To produce dental prostheses (e.g., dental copings, dental crowns, etc.) to be mounted to a preparation site (e.g., a prepared tooth, an installed abutment, etc.) of a patient, technicians obtain electronic models of dentitions (e.g., the teeth and soft tissue surrounding the preparation site). In general, the technicians design electronic models of dental prostheses based on the electronic models of the dentitions.
In some prior systems, the technicians obtain impressions and/or plaster models of the dentitions from dentists or other dental/orthodontic professionals. The impressions and/or models can be scanned to produce electronic models of the dentitions. In other prior systems, electronic images can be obtained by directly scanning the mouths of the patients (e.g., using intra-oral scanners). The dental prostheses can be fabricated based on the electronic models. For example, in some prior systems, rapid prototyping techniques can be used to create casting patterns based on the electronic models. Such casting patterns can be used in forming casting molds using a lost-wax process. In other prior systems, milling techniques can be used to create either patterns of the dental prostheses or the dental prostheses themselves.
There exists a need in the art for improved manufacturing processes for dental prostheses.